Amazing Spider-Man #635Review

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Can Joe Kelly's conclusion to the Gauntlet get any darker?

By Tim Lenaghan

Things are looking grimmer than ever for Spider-Man in the second chapter of Joe Kelly's anticipated storyline. The cover to this issue declares, "Blood Demands Blood" and both Kelly and artist Michael Lark certainly hammer that home throughout the issue, delivering one of the most blood-soaked installments of Amazing in recent memory. However, the violence is hardly gratuitous by comic standards and manages to effectively raise the stakes as Kelly delivers some surprising twists throughout.

The first issue was particularly striking in the way it managed to unify so many decades worth of Spider-Man stories so effectively. By tapping into DeMatteis' work on "Kraven's Last Hunt," some of the more intriguing aspects of the Kaine character and J. Michael Straczynski's work with Ezekiel and the Spider Totem, Kelly has steeped his yarn in Spider-lore. In many ways the sheer amount of history laid before the reader creates an inherent feeling of significance for "Grim Hunt".

Unfortunately, because he's included all of these call backs to the Spider-Man stories of yore, Kelly has to devote a large portion of this issue's beginning pages to explain many of the concepts he's working with. While they don't feel inorganic to the story, as Kelly wisely stages Julia Carpenter as the recipient of said explanations, they slow the beginning of the issue down compared with the fevered pitch of last week's installment. However, it's not long before Kelly ratchets the tension up to eleven again in a confrontation that pits Spider-Men, Women and Children against the Kraven clan.

Of course, each of these sequences is fantastically brought to life by Michael Lark and Stefano Gaudiano. Both artists' styles are perfectly suited to this grim and gritty Spider-Man story. It's also worth noting that the artists do a great job of juggling the large cast throughout the final sequences of this issue. Often in sequences like this it can be difficult to discern who's kicking the stuffing out of whom, however that's simply not the case here.

The backup material in this issue continues to justify the $3.99 price tag. I've enjoyed DeMatteis' insight into both Kraven and Kaine and the story complements the main feature well. The Stan Lee and Marcos Martin strip remains as bizarre as ever, in both concept and in contrast to the remainder of the issue. It's a jarring tonal shift in both its script and art and the cheeky audacity of its inclusion with this gritty tale makes me enjoy it even more.

What's been particularly refreshing about "Grim Hunt" thus fa, is the way in which Kelly has been able to simultaneously recognize that he's treading on sacred ground while still managing to tell a story that feels independent of its connection to "Kraven's Last Hunt". There's an inherent sense of urgency that's such a large part of the best Spider-Man stories, whether it's manifested in a dying Aunt in need of her medicine or a hero whose been buried alive. That sense of urgency is what makes the wait between issues so excruciating. It pervades the entire story and transcends being a mere cliffhanger. Joe Kelly has captured that sense perfectly here.